Sample from baby suspected of having microcephaly sent to Trinidad for Zika testing
Published:Thursday | January 19, 2017 | 5:10 PM
The health ministry says it should be able to confirm within a week whether a sample taken from a baby believed to have microcephaly tested positive for the Zika virus.
Microcephaly is a birth defect where a baby is born with a small head because of brain underdevelopment.
National Epidemiologist Dr Karen Webster-Kerr says the sample was sent to the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) in Trinidad today.
She says results are usually returned in a week.
Chief Medical Officer, Dr Winston De La Haye, says the baby was born in late December at the Victoria Jubilee Hospital in Kingston.
He says the mother had a rash and a fever during pregnancy.
De La Haye says the ministry was notified about the probable case of microcephaly on January 10 and since then it has been actively handling the case.